requirements for admission to top colleges. There is no time in the day set aside for a
teacher to investigate the cultural backgrounds of students, to get to know their needs, and
to develop strategies to help them overcome oppression. Maybe these are priorities in other
countries or other parts of the United States, but not here. Here, as Herbert Kohl points out,
“students are judged by their conformity and obedience rather than their intelligence in
dealing with the problems that they and their communities face.” Maybe that explains why
Freire seems so alien to “mainstream” America.
I don’t know what a new teacher in a traditional suburban school district can do to bring
Freire’s ideas and hopes into fruition; I don’t know if a new teacher can really do anything. I
hear more about not rocking the boat than I hear about helping to provide students with a
“democratic, liberating education.”
I definitely agree with Freire’s claim that traditional schooling consists of “banking” infor-
mation into students’ minds and that this system assumes they bring nothing worth knowing
with them. I have tried to open up the lines of communication with students and to let an un-
inhibited dialogue flow. There is an awful lot I do not know and I am willing to be taught by
them. Unfortunately, many of my students are uncomfortable expressing themselves in
class. I worry that Freire’s approach is threatening to students, teachers and the parents
whose hard earned dollars pay my salary.
I am not sure where to go from here or what to do about the things raised by Freire. To
what degree can I really make a difference? The problem with reading literature such as this
book is that once we are confronted with the issues, we can no longer claim ignorance; we
can never turn back.
Journal Entry 6: The hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life.
I was asked what I learned during my student teaching experience. I find that question diffi-
cult to answer because I learned so many things about the type of person and educator I am,
about people in general, and about the students in my classes. With all of the knowledge I
gained, I still have many unanswered questions, and some feelings I have not even formu-
lated into questions yet. I hope to find some answers as I write this, and I hope that other an-
swers, and new questions, become clearer to me when I am teaching.
I feel as though I have changed drastically as a person over the past months. I faced a
challenge and I am proud of what I have accomplished. I survived all of those days when I
thought that I could not last another moment or that I could not possibly face another class
filled with teenagers. I learned that stress can do strange things to your body and I found out
it is okay to scream in your car and to vent your frustrations, as long as your windows are
closed and the stereo is playing loudly. If I am ever a cooperating teacher, I will try my hard-
est to be supportive of my student teachers and to offer constructive criticism that actually
is constructive. I have learned that I do know a lot about literature, but that I have a lot to
learn about everything else. I realize now that teaching is not an easy job; there is so much
involved beyond which can be taught in a methods class.
Student teaching was by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life, but also the
most rewarding. I gained valuable experience and I truly understand how difficult it is to
teach a full day of classes. Having a support system in our seminar helped me gain insight
into myself as a teacher and a person. The books and articles we read and wrote about pro-
voked my thoughts about what I want to accomplish as a teacher and how to go about ac-
complishing them.
***262 CHAPTER 10